Don't wait for a rash to get tested for meningitis, I nearly died from it

That’s my message, after going through a severe case of meningitis myself – and coming frighteningly close to dying.

On the 15th of December 2025, I was at the peak of my life. I’m an author, a writer, Head of Video – and a keen runner. Everything felt on track. Then I went into hospital with what I thought was just an earache.

Very quickly, everything changed.

I was blue-lighted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. On the way, the paramedic travelling with me noticed I was avoiding the light, hiding under a blanket. He was the first to suspect meningitis – and that instinct may have saved my life.

Sensitivity to light, a high fever, headaches and a stiff neck are some of the first signs. I had them – but I didn’t know what they meant.

I was started on a strong course of antibiotics, and a lumbar puncture confirmed it: bacterial meningitis, caused by Streptococcus.

Despite how quickly things moved, within two days I was in a coma.

My family and friends were told just how serious it was. They were warned to prepare to say goodbye. The outlook wasn’t just bleak – it was terrifying.

I spent three weeks in that coma. I missed Christmas. I missed New Year’s Eve.

But in early 2026, I woke up.

That’s when the real fight began.

I had to relearn how to walk, how to talk, how to live. At times, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do much at all again – let alone recover from something that had taken so much from me.

After seven weeks in hospital, I was still wobbly, dizzy and sensitive to almost every noise. But I wasn’t giving up.

I came out of hospital five weeks ago and started the real recovery: therapy, speech coaching, physio. I looked like a shell of my former self. I was dealing with partial sight loss, hearing loss and chronic fatigue.

Slowly, though, I began to rediscover life again.

Now, I’m on a positive – and thankfully quite fast – path to recovery. And I want to share my story, because people need to know the signs and how quickly this illness can take hold.

Don’t wait for a rash. Don’t assume it only happens to children. And don’t ignore the symptoms.

It can save lives.

With the current outbreak and the loss of two lives in Kent, my thoughts are with those families. Meningitis doesn’t discriminate – and it can take a life within 24 hours.

Knowledge really is power.

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Daniel John Harding is an author and journalist who contracted meningitis in December 2025.

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